The invention relates generally to hearing aid technology and, in particular, to a sleeve or protective sleeve for hearing aids or parts of them, to hearing aids or parts of them provided with a sleeve, and to a hearing test device using the abovementioned hearing aids, as well as to a method for operation of this hearing test device.
Hearing aids which are inserted into the auditory channel and are fixed there (concha units, in-the-ear units) and parts of behind-the-ear units which project into the auditory channel are subject to corrosive body fluids and cerumen. This leads in general to hygiene problems and to the risk of inflammation if these parts are not regularly cleaned. In addition, in the case of in-the-ear units, there is a risk of the corrosive body fluids or cleaning fluids making the sensitive electronic and acoustic components unserviceable.
It is known for the end of in-the-ear units which faces the eardrum and the parts of a hearing aid which can be worn in the auditory channel to be provided with a cerumen protective grid. This admittedly prevents the ingress of cerumen, but not the ingress of body fluids.
In the case of hearing aids or hearing boosters for compensation for hearing weaknesses or hearing damage, a distinction is drawn essentially between two types of units, so-called behind-the-ear units and so-called in-the-ear units. The latter are also called auditory channel units or concha hearing aids. In the case of behind-the-ear units, the actual part of the hearing aid, with the electronics, microphone, earphone, battery compartment, control elements etc., is located in a common housing behind the ear and a so-called standard flexible tube or a so-called Libby horn leads from the earphone into the auditory channel. In the case of so-called in-the-ear units, which have been produced in the course of miniaturization of electronic and electromechanical components, the hearing aid is located entirely in the auditory channel or projects out of it into the pavilion of the ear. In-the-ear hearing aids are marketed, for example, by the Siemens Co. under the designation Cosmea Top.
In both types of hearing aid, the part of the hearing aid which is located in the auditory channel or the part of the hearing aid which is located in the pavilion of the ear is surrounded by an otoplasty which is matched to the individual ear shape or auditory channel shape of the wearer and makes it possible for the hearing aid to be seated correctly and to operate correctly (avoidance of feedback etc.). Examples of this are disclosed in DE-OS 39 36 062 and DE Utility Patent 91 15 511.8.
Holes are also introduced into these specially manufactured otoplasties for individual adaptation of the frequency response, for pressure equalization and for voice modulation, and are also used for ventilation of the auditory channel. German Utility Patent G 90 03 269.1 discloses a hearing aid which can be worn in the ear or an otoplasty which has a ventilation channel which can be blocked off to a greater or lesser extent by means of a blocking device, as a result of which the ventilation, the voice modulation etc. can be influenced and can be varied during operation and while being worn.
These otoplasties considerably increase the cost of the hearing aids since they must be individually manufactured. In consequence, the purchasing of a hearing aid also becomes a highly tedious process which leads to hearing aids frequently being bought only when they are absolutely essential, that is to say in the event of a high degree of hearing difficulty. People having minor to medium hearing difficulty frequently avoid buying a hearing aid or an electronic hearing booster for cost, time or else image reasons.
DE Utility Patent 87 12 957.4 discloses an in-the-ear hearing aid which is surrounded by a sleeve in the form of a sack or a double sack. A curable material is inserted into the volume defined by the sleeve and the actual in-the-ear unit or by the interior of the sleeve which is in the form of a double sack, as a result of which an individually adapted otoplasty is produced and the in-the-ear unit is thus fixed in the wearer""s ear. It is disadvantageous in the case of this known in-the-ear unit that the earphone and the sound outlet channel from the hearing aid are not exposed until after the curable compound has cured, that is to say after the adaptation of the otoplasty, by cutting off the part which closes the sound outlet channel of the earphone. In consequence, the otoplasty and the hearing aid can not be tested until after the otoplasty has been manufactured. If, for any reason, the hearing aid provided with the individual otoplasty is unsuitable or if the manufactured otoplasty has defects, then a new hearing aid module must be used. This results in the risk of a number of hearing aid modules being xe2x80x9cused upxe2x80x9d before a suitable hearing aid module has been found. The individual adaptation of this hearing aid according to the prior art is thus in no way cost effective but, on the contrary, is highly cost-intensive.
In order that an optimally adapted hearing aid can be selected and manufactured for a patient suffering from hearing difficulty, the level of his or her hearing difficulty, or his or her hearing ability, must first be determined. Once this has been done, an appropriate hearing aid can then be selected and an otoplasty individually manufactured for it. The conventional known hearing tests are very complex since they can be carried out only by trained specialist personnel. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous that, essentially, unnatural sinusoidal tones are used for testing the hearing ability.
The document FR 2 664 494 A1 discloses a hearing test device by means of which sound events, which are stored on a sound storage device, can be called up via a loudspeaker. The level of recognition of the various sound events (curve b in FIG. 2) is recorded by an investigating person for various hearing aids or for one hearing aid with various settings. In this way, an appropriately individually matched hearing aid is searched for by cooperation between the patient and the investigating person. It is disadvantageous in this case that the investigation can be carried out only with the continuous involvement of an appropriately trained specialist person. The high labour costs thus increase the cost of the investigation method accordingly.
DE-OS 39 00 588 and DE-OS 32 05 685 disclose hearing aids in the case of which specific acoustic operating parameters can be varied.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a hearing aid or a part of a hearing aid which can be worn in the ear, which is particularly suitable for forms of slight to medium hearing difficulty and which can be adapted more quickly and cost-effectively to the individual characteristics of a wearer. It is furthermore the object of the invention to specify an improved protective device for hearing aids. In addition, it is an object of the invention, in cases of slight to medium hearing difficulty, to specify a quick and efficient method for individual selection and adaptation of a hearing aid.
It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide a device for testing the hearing ability of a patient and for selection of an individually adapted hearing aid, which device allows less cost-intensive use. In addition, it is an object of the invention to make available an appropriately matched method for testing the hearing ability of a patient and for selection of an individually adapted or matched hearing aid.
These objects are achieved by the features of claims 1, 9, 10, 32, 35, 38, 48 and 53.
The protective sleeve according to the invention can be pulled, in a simple manner, over the part of a hearing aidxe2x80x94over the otoplastyxe2x80x94which can be inserted into the auditory channel. In consequence, the entire part which is located in the auditory channel is covered by the moisture-proof, thin, elastic sleeve. The acoustically transmissive cap ensures that the acoustic characteristics of the hearing aid are not adversely affected.
The protective sleeve is designed such that, in a slightly expanded state, it reliably adheres to the relevant part of the hearing aid by virtue of the elasticity of the material. It can thus also be removed very easily again; costly cleaning of the hearing aid itself is avoided. The protective sleeve is very highly suitable for use as a disposable article.
The thin, elastic material, preferably a hypoallergenic material such as rubber, feels more pleasant on the skin and warmer than the hard plastic of conventional otoplasties. Since the protective sleeve is supported via the otoplasty and thus rests directly against the skin of the auditory channel, the protective sleeve according to the invention also improves the convenience of wearing hearing aids.
According to an advantageous development of the invention, the protective sleeve is constructed integrally, as a result of which the ingress of liquids at the interface between the cap and the casing is reliably prevented.
According to a further advantageous development of the invention, at least a part of the cap is air-permeable, as a result of which it is possible to carry out the ventilation of the ear and the acoustic adaptation in a normal manner. This is achieved in a simple manner in that the cap is constructed in the form of a grid, in particular in the form of a rubber grid.
An advantageous refinement ensures that the liquid-permeable rubber grid comes to rest, so to speak, in an insulated manner in the auditory channel and does not rest against the skin of the auditory channel. This reduces the risk of ingress of liquid via the grid.
A further advantageous development of the invention reliably prevents corrosive liquids reaching the sensitive parts of the hearing aid in the interior of the protective sleeve.
The advantageous development of the invention according to claim 7 prevents the cap vibrating as a result of soundwaves from the earphone of the hearing aid.
As a result of the fact that the auditory passage unit as such or the part of a behind-the-ear hearing aid which can be worn in the earxe2x80x94standard flexible tube or Libby hornxe2x80x94is surrounded by a sleeve which is in the form of a flexible tube, whose cross-section is variable, it is possible to adapt standard hearing aids to the individual ear shape of a wearer, in a simple manner. The sleeve, which is in the form of a flexible tube, exposes both the distal end, which faces the eardrum, of a hearing aid and the proximal end, which comes to rest in the pavilion of the ear, of a hearing aid. (the distal end must be at least highly acoustically transmissive). The cross-section of the sleeve, which is in the form of a flexible tube, is variable by mechanical or other means in such a manner that it can be pressed against the auditory channel and can be locked in this position.
According to a preferred embodiment, a sleeve is provided which is in the form of a double flexible tube and defines a cavity which can be filled with a fluid, in particular air, via a closeable opening. The inserted fluid leads to an expansion and thus to an increase in the cross-section of the sleeve, so that said sleeve exactly matches the auditory channel and the concha.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the sleeve, which is in the form of a flexible tube, is drawn over a standard component, which reflects the shape of the auditory channel only roughly. In the case of in-the-ear units, the standard component may be a conventional hearing aid module which, in the case of conventional hearing aids, is connected to the individually manufactured otoplasty.
In the case of in-the-ear units, and in the case of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a ventilation channel is passed through the interior of the hearing aid, in which the earphone, electronics, microphone etc. are arranged. The risk of operation being adversely affected by the moisture which is present in the ear is low since the individual functional elements can be appropriately sealed or encapsulated.
Using the hearing aids according to the invention or the parts of a hearing aid according to the invention, a hearing aid can be directly matched to the individual ear shape of a wearer and to the level of hearing difficulty on the spot. There is no need to make an impression and to manufacture an otoplasty in an external laboratory. By filling this sleeve, which is in the form of a double flexible tube, on the spot, the individual otoplasty is produced immediately when the suitable hearing aid is selected.
A hearing test device according to the present invention is particularly suitable for the selection of a suitable hearing aid, by means of which hearing test device various sound events can be called up from a sound storage device and can be made audible via a loudspeaker device. A control and operating device allows the acoustic operating parameters of a hearing aid to be varied until a hearing aid is found which is optimally matched to the patient. The patient can freely select the various acoustic parameters, such as the frequency response, gain, output sound pressure level and even the type of amplifier circuit, within certain limits, in order thus to find the most suitable hearing aid for him or her, without any external help.
According to a preferred refinement of the invention, the associated meaning is called up at the same time as a specific sound event, either in the form of an announcement text or in the form of a visual display from the sound storage device, and is displayed in a display device. In this way, the patient can always immediately assess whether a specific sound event, for example the rustling of leaves in the wind, does or does not sound natural with the currently set hearing aid parameters.
If the sound event is a spoken text, this spoken text is displayed on the display device. According to preferred embodiments of the invention, the sound event itself and the associated meaning are stored in the form of a text, a visual representation etc., jointly, in the sound storage device. In consequence, any desired sound effects can be selected, and the patient or a carer does not need to worry about the association between the acoustically occurring sound event and the display of the associated meaning. The sound events can be repeated as often as desired.
According to further advantageous refinements, the standard shell of the hearing aid has an elastic sleeve, which is replaceable for reasons of hygiene. In this way, the same standard shells can be used for different people. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, this sleeve is a sleeve which is in the form of a flexible tube or a double flexible tube, which can be filled with a fluid, in particular air, so that the hearing aid can then be optimally matched to the auditory channel of the respective patient. The sleeves and hearing aids described above, with a sleeve, are particularly suitable for this purpose.
Any desired hearing aids or hearing amplifiers can be used as the hearing aid. In order to simplify interchangeability, the hearing aid is preferably fitted on a supporting device, for example a stetho clip. The hearing aid can be controlled and operated via a cable, which connects the hearing aid and the control and operating device, or else by means of infrared beams or the like.
According to a preferred embodiment, various noises, such as the rustling of a newspaper or alarm clock bells, can also be produced in a natural manner, that is to say, these sound events are not called up from the sound storage device but are produced directly by the patient himself or herself.
In order to avoid injuries to the patient, critical parameters, such as the gain and the output sound pressure level of the hearing aid for example, can be freely selected only in ranges below the hearing damage limit. Should values beyond these limits be necessary, these can, of course, be set by an appropriate specialist.
The further subclaims relate to further advantageous refinements of the invention.